How People in 11 Countries With Significant Muslim Populations Responded When Asked for Opinions on the Islamic State

Newly released data from a poll that the Pew Research Center conducted this past spring shows that majorities in 10 countries with sizable Muslim populations held an "overwhelmingly negative" view of the Islamic State terror group.

On the unfavorable front, proportions in Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Palestinian terrority, Indonesia, Turkey, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Malaysia and Senegal ranged from 60-100 percent, with small proportions expressing favorable views, according to data published this week.

"In no country surveyed did more than 15 percent of the population show favorable attitudes toward Islamic State," the Pew Research Center reported. "And in those countries with mixed religious and ethnic populations, negative views of ISIS cut across these lines."

There was one exception, however, as only 28 percent of Pakistanis surveyed held a negative view, with the largest proportion — 62 percent — accounting for those who were uncertain about where they stood on the matter; 9 percent held favorable opinions of the Islamic State.

See the results below:

The negative views of the Islamic State in some countries were unbelievably pronounced.

"In Lebanon, a victim of one of the most recent attacks, almost every person surveyed who gave an opinion had an unfavorable view of ISIS, including 99 percent with a very unfavorable opinion," Pew reported. "Israelis (97 percent) and Jordanians (94 percent) were also strongly opposed to ISIS as of spring 2015, including 91 percent of Israeli Arabs.

The report continued, "And 84 percent in the Palestinian territories had a negative view of ISIS, both in the Gaza Strip (92 percent) and the West Bank (79 percent)."

It should be noted that, in eight of the 11 countries, at least 10 percent of the population selected "don't know" when asked for their opinion on the Islamic State; this crossed the 20 percent threshold in five of the countries.

Read the complete results here.

--

Follow the author of this story on Twitter and Facebook:

Follow @BillyHallowell